Lawsuit against Judge Wade McCree is tossed

Jul. 26, 2013

Wade McCree

Written by

Detroit Free Press Writer

A federal judge tossed a lawsuit today against Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree, who was accused of giving favorable rulings to an ex-mistress — to the chagrin of her child’s father.

That man, Robert King, sued McCree, alleging he ordered high child support payments and forced him to wear a tether because McCree was having an affair with his child’s mother and acting on his “desires for sexual gratifications.” This, he argued, deprived him of his due process rights, specifically, the right to be heard by a fair and impartial judge.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn disagreed, concluding that McCree is entitled to immunity from lawsuits arising out of his actions as a judge.

And the actions that King complained about, he wrote, are the normal functions of a judge: McCree accepted the man’s guilty plea to failure to pay child support; set up a payment plan requiring him to pay $280.50 per month; put the father on a tether for failing to abide by that payment plan, and later recused himself from the case.

“These are judicial acts,” wrote Cohn, who went on to state: “The court in no way endorses the conduct described in the complaint. The courtroom, however, is not the appropriate venue to remedy King’s complaints because McCree is absolutely immune from a civil lawsuit arising out of his judicial actions.”

King’s lawyer, Joel Sklar, has promised an appeal, arguing judges should not be able to do whatever they want and get away with it — just because they are judges.

“Having a romantic relationship with a litigant in front of you is way out of line,” argued Sklar, referring to McCree’s now admitted affair with the mother, Geniene La’Shay Mott. He said he believes McCree does not deserve the immunity typically offered to judges because “the facts are so extreme” in his case.

“The facts are so remarkable, you couldn’t write a movie script and believe it,” Sklar said. “This conduct is absurd, it’s so beyond description. A judge uses his chambers to have sex with a litigant. ... If this isn’t too far, what is too far?”

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According to King’s lawsuit:

■ McCree flirted with Mott from the bench and had a lunch date with her.

■ McCree had sex repeatedly with her, including in chambers.

■ McCree sent Mott sexual texts from the bench.

■ McCree kept the affair quiet while he presided over their child support case.

But that’s a personal matter, countered McCree’s lawyer, Brian Einhorn, who said he believes McCree acted appropriately in the child support case and should not be sued just because “a deadbeat father” doesn’t like the outcome.

“He followed the law,” Einhorn said of McCree, adding Cohn’s ruling “shows that he was doing what he was supposed to do as a judge.”

Einhorn conceded, however, that McCree did cross a line.

“Not recusing himself was bad. He obviously brought some disrespect to the judiciary,” Einhorn said, adding the Judicial Tenure Commission is handling the issue.

At a judicial disciplinary hearing in May, McCree, who has been suspended without pay, admitted to having an affair with Mott and conceded he should have recused himself from her case earlier than he did.

“Unfortunately for King, none of the acts he complains of involved McCree dealing with him; they involved McCree and Mott,” Cohn wrote.

King also sued Mott, alleging she and McCree conspired to deprive him of his due process rights when they carried on their secret affair while he was a defendant in the child support case before McCree.

Last month, the Judicial Tenure Commission accused McCree of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission.

McCree could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench. The Michigan Supreme Court will decide McCree’s fate.